CHARLESTON- The Greenbrier East Lady Spartans have survived and will advance.
East held on to defeat the Sissonville Lady Indians 56-51 on Wednesday morning, March 12 in the quarterfinals of the state tournament at the Charleston Coliseum and Convention Center.
The Spartans, who led by 12 points at halftime, came up with some big steals and hit some key free throws down the stretch to keep their season moving forward and their dreams of a state championship alive.
This one started quickly and provided some up-and-down entertainment early.
Hannah Fuller got things started right off the bat with a bucket underneath for the games first two points, but the following three possessions for the Indians resulted in nine points after three 3s from senior Kynadee Britton who started out on fire from deep.
But Greenbrier East settled down and began to let the game come to them.
Back-to-back 3s from Sandy Banton and Ava Workman cut the Sissonville lead to 9-8 with five minutes to go and shortly thereafter, a 5-0 Lady Spartan run gave them a 13-11 lead. Kennedy Stewart’s 4-point play and a Workman steal and score off an inbounds pass gave East a 19-15 lead after the first quarter.
Greenbrier East (24-1) continued to settle down and play with poise and ball movement in the second. Mackenna McClure scored early in the quarter and Workman’s 3-point play extended the Spartans lead to 24-17. Makinley Britton’s trifecta and two makes from the charity stripe trimmed the Sissonville deficit to 27-24, but from that point on in the remaining moments of the first half, it was a Lady Spartans basketball clinic.
East closed the half on an 11-2 run fueled by five points from Workman and four from Fuller, including an offensive rebound putback off her own miss at the halftime buzzer.
At the break, the Lady Spartans had taken control of the game and led 38-26.
A sluggish third quarter from the Spartans allowed the Indians to claw their way back into the contest. Workman scored two early in the quarter and extended East’s lead to 40-26, but a 9-0 run from Sissonville immediately followed and the Indians trimmed that lead to 40-35. The run could have been worse for East, but the Indians (19-6) went just 1-for-6 from the free throw line during that span. An important bucket from McClure late in the quarter got East out of the slump, but just a four-point period for East had their lead at 42-36 after three.
A Workman 3-point play with 6:03 left in the contest made the score 45-38 and a couple possessions later, Jada Waller made a nice bounce pass to Fuller for two and East led 45-40. The Spartans led by as many as 10 at 52-42 following two Stewart free throws, but Ky. Britton and Ava Hillabold kept the Indians within striking distance.
Then, with 50 seconds left, Sissonville’s Raegan Elmore hit a right wing 3 that cut the Spartan lead to 52-48. But in the waning moments, McClure secured an important rebound and Banton got a steal with 17 seconds to go, and the Lady Spartans smiles were contagious after the clock struck all zeroes and they had secured the victory.
Workman led East with 21 points and nine rebounds. Stewart finished with 12 points and eight rebounds. Fuller had eight points and 11 rebounds and Banton stuffed the stat sheet with five points, seven boards, and four assists.
For Sissonville, Ky. Britton had 12 and was saddled with foul trouble in the second half. Hillabold added 11 points and 15 rebounds for the Indians.
The Lady Spartans will return to action this Friday morning, March 14 and face the winner of (7) Keyser and (2) Wayne in the semifinals. Tipoff is scheduled for 9:30 AM in Charleston.
